Pereira’s Predicament

With Manchester United’s transfer activity stuck in limbo, somewhere between frustration and anticipation, José Mourinho may yet look towards his returning loanees to breathe some fresh life into his squad. Of the six United players who left the club on a temporary basis last season, it is likely that only one can force his way into Mourinho’s plans for the coming Premier League campaign: Andreas Pereira.

Cameron Borthwick-Jackson suffered a confusing season at Wolverhampton Wanderers. Under new Chinese ownership, Wolves started the campaign with Kenny Jackett in charge. The 55-year-old took a liking to the loanee, with Borthwick-Jackson starting seven games under Jackett’s tutorship, scoring an impressive 7.32 rating on WhoScord, before the now Portsmouth manager was replaced by Paul Lambert. The former Norwich City and Aston Villa manager rapidly discarded Borthwick-Jackson and failed to offer the youngster another outing at the Midlands club, commenting disapprovingly on both the player’s fitness and mentality.

"Pereira may stand a chance at United. His club suffered the most, theatrically crashing out of La Liga. Yet, the midfielder ended the season as one of the most promising under-21 players La Liga."

The United academy product, who broke into the first team under Louis van Gaal, returned to Old Trafford in search of game time with the under-23 squad. He has not enjoyed senior football since. Despite Mourinho’s ongoing tussle with Luke Shaw over the player’s fitness and attitude, it seems unlikely that Borthwick-Jackson will be involved in the first team squad during the coming season.

Similarly, Guillermo Varela is unlikely to squeeze his way into Mourinho’s plans, especially given the player’s now infamous behaviour at the end of the 2016/17 season. There have been a few humorously embarrassing injury stories in modern football, but not many top the young Uruguayan’s. Prior to Eintracht Frankfurt’s DFB Pokal final against Borussia Dortmund, Varela got a tattoo against his manager’s wishes. This tattoo got infected, ruling the loanee out of the final. Frankfurt’s sporting director Fredi Bobic issued a statement slamming Varela’s behaviour and the German club abruptly ended his loan-spell.

Like Borthwick-Jackson, it is unlikely that Varela will play for United’s first team again, especially with Mourinho attempting to shape the mentality of the club into one that is much more serious – and winning. Unprofessional personalities are likely to be cast aside.

The same goes for the trio of English-based loanees. Adnan Januzaj is the most high-profile case. The Belgian’s unimpressive season under David Moyes at Sunderland was probably his last affiliation with United after too many campaigns of stalling development.

Meanwhile, James Wilson made a total of four appearances for Derby County’s first team, scoring one goal in the EFL Trophy for what was essentially Derby’s reserves. Despite scoring a brace on his début for United under Ryan Giggs’ management, the exit door is looming, especially with Mourinho chasing a number nine as one of his primary transfer targets.

Sam Johnstone is also likely to leave the club. Having made nine separate loan moves since 2011, the Englishman does not have a future at Old Trafford, particularly since David De Gea, Sergio Romero, Joel Pereira and probably even Dean Henderson are ahead in the pecking order of the now journeyman goalkeeper.

Pereira, by contrast, may stand a chance. Of all United’s loanees last season, his club suffered the most, although the Brazilian regularly featured for Granada side that won just four from 38 La Liga games, theatrically crashing out of the Spanish top division.

Yet, the diminutive midfielder does play in a position where United lacks squad depth, and Pereira ended the season with some credit as one of the most promising under-21 players La Liga.

The experience of Januzaj, Wilson, Varela and Borthwick-Jackson last season reflects the risk of spending a season out on loan. The quartet left to gain experience, confidence and eventually to force a way back into the parent club’s senior squad. None of the four picked up more than a handful of appearances at senior level. Pereira made 34 starts and one substitute appearance in the Spanish league. In fact, only Guillermo Ochoa, Granada’s experienced goalkeeper, racked up more minutes than Pereira for the southern Spain side. It is quite a feat, especially for a 21-year-old in a foreign country.

Pereira was also involved in more goals than any other player at the club, including five strikes and three assists. While that is not overly impressive on it’s own, in a hugely disappointing season for Granada, Pereira played in an astonishing number of positions. The Brazilian started 10 games on the left of a midfield four, seven in the centre, six in an attacking midfield role, another six on the left of a 4-2-3-1 system, two on the left of a 4-3-3, two as a defensive midfielder and even one as a solo striker. It is a positive sign of the player’s ability to perform even amid the chaos, and he perhaps boasts greater mental strength than many thought.

There may even be a space for Pereira in Mourinho’s squad. It is safe to assume that Mourinho will recruit a holding midfielder in this summer’s transfer window – a move that should free up some of the defensive burden placed on Paul Pogba and Ander Herrera. Nemanja Matić now the most likely player to form a three with two of United’s better performers last season, with Herrera deployed in a box-to-box role and Pogba as the most attacking of the trio.

"With United’s transfer activity stuck in limbo, Mourinho may yet look towards his returning loanees to breathe some fresh life into his squad"

Marouane Fellaini and Michael Carrick are set to be retained, most likely a cover for Matić and Herrera. With Wayne Rooney leaving the club, and Mourinho generally preferring Juan Mata in wider roles, Pereira could provide a rotation option when Pogba needs a rest. The youngster has demonstrated that he is more than capable of performing in the role.

Mourinho needs the depth. United fought hard on four different fronts last season, with the lack of squad depth becoming an issue towards the end of the campaign. This coming season, Mourinho’s team will again be fighting in four separate competitions, although with even more intensity in the Champions League. The manager needs all the quality replacements he can get – and Pereira will surely be a useful tool in what will be another busy season.

9 comments

Nice read, gents. But sadly to me a wife forward who can also cover in midfield sounds like Mata 2.0- who himself isn’t guaranteed to start. So I think Parreira’s decision to go should be an easy one for him. Which is sad cos I really rate him. Cant see him playing for Jose

I think is better we give a player that has proof him self at granada a chance at United and make him a relief in the midfield, as we know he can play any position in midfield, as for Jackson everybody knows that he is a very good player with the little game he played at the senior level before he was loaned make him a better replacement for Shaw. it could be risky to loose all this potential, remember what happened in pogba’s case, pogba left on a free transfer do to lack of opportunity, see what it cost to bring him back. glory glory United

Cearly Mourinho has earned his reputation for buying success and is also well known to prefer working with a small squad where he can build very strong bonds of trust and loyalty with the players. With big money being invested, not only on several off the peg star players, but on the scouting network and the Academy, there are a number of young, fringe players already at United who really do need to make an indelible impression on Jose THIS season or face the prospect of having to leave the club in order to continue their development and succeed in their quest for regular first team football.

Despite Mourinho’s rep for not trusting youth, the Rules on home grown and under 21 players mean that some of these players will feature at some point during what will (hopefully) be another long and demanding season. I would very much like to see the Pereira brothers, Fosu-Mensah, Tuanzebe, Mitchell and/or Borthwick Jackson be given chances in both domestic cup competitions, particularly in the League Cup, where there could be an early chance for Jose to see how they perform competitively against professional league players at close quarters with view to gradually introducing them into the first team squad so that when they will be ready if and when they are called upon during the business end of the season where fatigue and injuries become more of an issue.

I would be hugely disappointed to see any of those players loaned out again next seaon, with the possible exception of Mitchell,who has a little more time on his side than Borthwick-Jackson.
Of all of these players Tuanzebe and Fosu-Mensah seem to be certs to go on to have successful careers wherever they play but Andreas Pereira is so promising that, were it not for his less powerful and athletic physique, I could see him pushing Pogba hard for a starting place in a couple of years time. I hope that he is properly developed and managed at United because once Pogba gets to 26 or 27 he will probably agitate for a move to Real, and whilst Andreas would not be a tailor made replacement, it looks like he has the mentality and determination to become a star player and could potentially save United £50m plus in years to come. However, it will be difficult to keep him at United if he does not make a first team breakthrough this season and whilst no single player is bigger than the club, I have a feeling that if he is allowed to leave it could come back to haunt us in a similar way to the Pogba saga.

Sell fellaini….and form a midfield 3 of pogba..hererra and (weighl or fabinho) with pereira serving as back up to develop his game with more cup matches to play and injuries might hit some of our midfielders…fellaini 29yrs out